The race for global supremacy in AI and the existential threat it represents to the status quo in the tech industry, and beyond, has led to record venture investment in startups.

The top five companies on this year’s Disruptor 50 list — including a new No. 1 Disruptor from the defense tech sector — have a combined valuation of just under $500 billion. That is more than the combined total valuation of almost every past Disruptor 50 list over the last 12 years.

One recently hauled in the largest VC round ever, and as consumer and business use of AI rapidly grows, more are using their cash to become aggressive acquirers, as they exponentially scale their generative AI business models.

But it’s never just about the money or size in the Disruptor 50 selection process, and it is far from all agentic AI and chatbots, with new business models emerging in a wide range of areas, from agriculture to autonomous transportation and health care.

It is increasingly about the new gen AI era, which began transforming the Disruptor 50 list in 2023, and hasn’t slowed down since. Twenty of this year’s 50 companies have made the list for the first time, while another 19 were first-timers in either 2023 or 2024. For most, embracing the new era is what has kept them here.

In all, the 2025 Disruptors have raised $127 billion at a total implied valuation $798 billion.